Outlaw's Reckoning (13 page)

Outside the room, several footsteps thumped back and forth in the hallway. A few voices drifted back and forth as well, chatting casually while Clint took hold of Laura's backside in both hands and began pounding into her with increasing force.

Laura bit down on her lower lip to keep from crying out. Just when she thought she had a handle on her passion, Clint would shift his hips or touch her in another way to test her once again.

“Nobody knows you're in here, do they?” Clint asked, picking up on how Laura was reacting to the sound of the others in the hall.

The blush in Laura's cheeks was easy to see, even in the room's dim light. She opened her mouth to say something, but felt Clint's rigid cock drive all the way inside of her in a way that pushed all the air from her lungs. She let out a little groan and then immediately covered her mouth with her hand.

“No,” she whispered. “I'm supposed to be preparing for—” She was cut off again as Clint ran his hand along her thigh while thrusting powerfully between her legs.

“What were you saying?” Clint asked.

“Nothing. Just don't stop.”

Clint pumped into her once more before straightening his back so he was kneeling on the bed. The covers fell away from them, revealing Laura's naked body beneath him. Her stomach heaved with excited breaths and her hair spilled loosely over her. When he saw her move her hands, Clint thought she was going to try and cover herself. Laura surprised him by slipping one hand between her legs to rub herself in a spot just above where he'd entered her.

As Clint kept pumping into her, Laura rubbed herself until her eyes were clenched shut and her breaths were coming in short, excited bursts. Soon, Clint could feel her tightening around him as she was overtaken by a powerful orgasm.

While Laura was still trembling beneath him, Clint leaned forward so he could hold her breasts with both hands. Her soft, rounded curves filled his hands and her nipples pressed against his palms. Squirming and moaning softly, Laura opened her legs wide and wriggled her hips in time to Clint's thrusts.

Soon, Clint felt his own climax approaching, and he kept pounding into her until it arrived. Laura enjoyed the feel of his weight upon her so much that she whimpered with the pleasure of another smaller climax of her own.

Feeling his strength drain out of him, Clint was just able to roll onto the bed next to Laura while letting out a satisfied breath. In the space of another few seconds, however, Laura was no longer beside him. Clint looked over just in time to see her bare, rounded backside as she hopped out of bed and bent to retrieve her clothes.

“You don't have to go just yet,” Clint said.

“Actually, I do. I'm not supposed to be in here.”

“If anyone asks, I'll swear you left the room perfectly clean.”

Laura pulled on her dress, but only bothered to fasten a few of the buttons. When she leaned down to touch his face, her breasts swayed perfectly beneath the loosely fittedfabric. “You're sweet,” she said while patting his cheek. “But all the explaining in the world won't do the trick if my job isn't done before the owner gets back.”

Clint leaned back and folded his hands behind his head. He never grew tired of watching a woman get dressed, and he wasn't about to start now. Laura left after blowing him a kiss.

Just as he was about to drift off for a little nap, Clint was awakened by the sudden opening and closing of his door. Laura jumped back into his room and had a look on her face that was the polar opposite of the one that had been there when she'd left.

“You need to come out here,” she said in a rush. “Your friend is about to get shot.”

Clint threw on his clothes, pulled on his boots, strapped his holster around his waist and was out the door in the blink of an eye.

Laura was in the hall and pointing toward the front door of the hotel, but Clint didn't need much direction to know where the source of the trouble was. All he needed to do was look for the small crowd that had gathered outside the hotel's front window.

“What's going on?” Clint asked as he hurried down the stairs.

Laura stood at the window and shifted back and forth to try and get a look past some of the people standing on the other side of the glass. “Some men rode down the street and started yelling. Someone else came out and then everyone drew their guns.”

“When the hell did all this happen?”

“While we were . . .” She paused and looked around before adding, “One of the maids told me about it when I was leaving your room.”

Pushing open the door, Clint managed to clear a path for himself so he could step outside. From there, he stepped between some of the gawkers on the boardwalk so he could get a look at what was going on.

The street was empty apart from three men on horseback and one on foot. The man without the horse was Matt and he was currently staring down the barrels of all three of the others' guns. Matt spoke to the closest of the other three, but neither of them was talking loudly enough for Clint to hear them.

Clint stepped forward, but stopped at the edge of the boardwalk. The moment Matt looked in his direction, Clint found himself under the other three's scrutiny as well.

“Is that the asshole you're riding with?” the lead man on horseback asked loudly.

Matt looked over to Clint and nodded.

Raising his voice even more, the man on horseback added, “I suppose he helped you rob us blind!”

Just then, four more men rounded the corner closest to the hotel and fanned out into a straight line. Clint recognized one of those men as Marshal Lind.

“You men lower your guns!” Lind shouted. “If anyone's been robbed, you take it up with me. But if anyone fires a shot, my men and I will make you wish you never stepped foot in this town.”

The only rider who'd raised his voice kept his gun arm extended as he shifted his eyes back and forth between Matt, Clint and the newly arrived lawmen. The other two riders kept their guns drawn and never took their eyes off of the lead rider.

“Don't push this, gentlemen,” Lind announced. “Settle your differences in a civilized way or you can talk it out while you're in jail. You won't like the third option.”

The lead rider smirked when he heard that and nodded to the other two men behind him. Once he started lowering his pistol, the other two riders followed suit.

“No need for all this fuss,” the leader said. “I guess this fucking town caters to thieves and killers, that's all.”

The lawmen didn't budge. Although Lind's eyes were firmly set, the deputies flanking him looked more uneasy with every second that passed.

Holstering their guns, the three riders took hold of their reins.

“Good,” Lind said. “Now you can—”

“I'll find you, asshole,” the lead rider said to Matt. “There ain't nowhere for you to run.” With that, he snapped his reins, put the lawmen behind him and got his horse running down the street.

A few of the deputies leaned forward as if they were preparing to feel the kick of their weapons, but Lind restrained them by holding both arms out to his sides. “Let 'em go. So long as they leave without a mess, I don't care what they say.”

Clint stepped into the street and saw one of the deputies take aim at him. The marshal spotted Clint right away, shoved the deputy's gun down and then motioned for his men to follow him back around the corner. Since the lawmen didn't seem interested in pursuing the matter further, Clint didn't press it.

“Who were those men?” Clint asked as he walked up to Matt.

Judging by the look on Matt's face, he could have been out for a stroll after a hearty lunch. “Remember those fellows I mentioned in regards to the money?”

“Yes.”

“There you go.”

“How did they find you?”

Matt grinned and replied, “Losing as much as they did tends to be one hell of a good inspiration to look. Have you eaten yet?”

“Are you out of your mind?”

Matt crossed the street, stepped onto the boardwalk and headed toward a restaurant on the corner. Around him, the crowd was already starting to drift back to what they'd been doing before the commotion. “Everything turned out fine,” Matt replied. “Crying about it won't do any good.”

“And you think those men are just going to ride off so they can forget why they showed up in the first place?”

Matt waited until Clint was directly in front of him before saying, “Most any day out of the week, I'd steal a horse if I had to just so I could tear after those cocksuckers and Ben knows that.”

“So what were you proposing to do after being held at gunpoint in the middle of the street by those men?”

Motioning toward the restaurant, Matt said, “I'm hungry. How about you?”

Clint and Matt got a cold roast beef sandwich thrown at each of them within moments after entering the restaurant. The place was fairly busy, and no more than a couple of the people inside tossed a sideways glance at either of them. It seemed as if the servers would have treated Clint and Matt the same way whether or not they'd been fresh from a standoff.

By the time he'd taken his first bite of the sandwich, Clint asked, “You said that man's name was Ben?”

Matt nodded and stuffed his mouth full.

“As in Ben Jarrett?”

“You've heard of him?” Matt asked.

“In passing. Actually, I'd just seen his face in the marshal's office while I was flipping through some bounty notices.”

“Were his in date at least?”

“Oh yes. He's also worth more than you.”

“Not according to that banker,” Matt replied with a smirk.

Ignoring the jolly tone in Matt's voice, Clint said, “Ben Jarrett has buried plenty of men down in New Mexico.”

“And that marshal still didn't recognize him. That's a damn shame.”

Clint kept his eyes on Matt until the outlaw decided to shift his attention back to his plate. “Was he talking to you about that money?”

Matt nodded. “It came up once or twice.”

“What did you tell him?”

“To go steal some more if it meant so much to him. Before you ask, he didn't take too kindly to my suggestion.”

“What do you intend to do about this?” Clint asked.

“I could go to the law, but that wouldn't be such a good idea. Even if the marshal knew his ass from a hole in the ground, he wouldn't stand a chance against Ben. What I intend to do is to wait for him to get impatient and let his guard down so I can see that he gets what's coming just like the other folks I've visited.”

“You delivered those other folks enough money to start a new life,” Clint pointed out. “As well intentioned as that may have been, it's still blood money.”

“All money's got blood on it, Adams. Don't sit there and pretend you didn't know that.”

Clint knew that all too well. In the end, money was only as good or bad as the people who had ahold of it at the time. Still, there was something that Clint couldn't justify no matter how hard he tried to think it through.

“You handed out that money knowing a killer was looking for it?” Clint asked. “Doesn't something about that strike you as wrong?”

“I think they'll put it to better use than Ben Jarrett would. Besides, thieves set their sights on folks no matter what they got, who they are or where they live. Those folks can either be afraid or they can live their lives. Besides, Ben's after me. He doesn't care about going back to rob the folks we already robbed.”

“If Ben knew those folks were rich, he might regain some interest in them.”

Matt winked and washed down some more of his sandwich with the water he'd been given. Once his mouth was empty, he said, “Ben won't be able to harm nobody when he's dead.”

Matt Fraley had been right about at least one thing: Ben Jarrett was most definitely losing his patience.

After riding out of town and circling back again, he and one of his men left their horses tied to a post two streets from the spot where they'd had words with Matt and then walked straight back to that same hotel. Ben walked with a confident stride and an easy smile on his face. He might have been considered a handsome man if not for the deadly gleam in his eyes that marked him the same way a rattlesnake was marked by the colors on its back.

A few paces from the hotel's front door, Ben glanced to the man beside him and said, “Keep your mouth shut and follow my lead.”

“What if Matt's in there?”

“I told you to keep your mouth shut, Danny. Are you going deaf?”

The other man was an inch or so taller than Ben and was missing the bottom halves of three front teeth. Despite the battle scars he wore in his mouth and on his face, he deferred to Ben without so much as a word in his own defense.

“If he's in there, we'll deal with him,” Ben said. “You saw them laws that were out here before. We can walk through them without getting our boots dirty.”

Danny nodded and pulled open the hotel door so Ben could step inside.

Laura was watching the door intently and couldn't hide the fear in her eyes when she saw the two men step inside. “Aren't you . . . ?”

“We're here to inquire about one of the men who was causing the stir outside your door,” Ben said. “Is he a guest here?”

“Umm . . . I shouldn't . . .”

“You sure as hell should,” Danny snarled as he lunged forward to grab hold of Laura's arm. “If you don't loosen that tongue of yers, I'll cut it from your damn head.”